Greenfield schools plan for supt.’s departure

GREENFIELD — The outgoing superintendent will be required to bring major decisions to the School Committee as she finishes out her final days.

Greenfield Public Schools Superintendent Susan Hollins will leave her job when the school year ends in about four months, and the School Committee has decided that any long-term contracts, as well as administrative-level hirings and firings, should be brought before the board for approval.

The idea was pitched by Mayor William Martin, who serves as chairman of the School Committee.

“Principals and key administrators are positions that I don’t think should be filled with a new superintendent coming in,” Martin said.

Martin called an exit plan “crucial to the success” of the town’s schools.

The committee also voted to have Hollins put together a primer for whoever is chosen to fill her shoes next year.

“This is the last chance for Sue to lay out what she’s been trying to do, what’s in process and what’s been accomplished that will need to be safeguarded going forward,” said committee member John Lunt. “She should also provide assessments of the top administrators and principals, and the things anyone coming in (as superintendent) should know. In private business, it’s the norm.”

He added that Hollins had little such guidance when she stepped into the position six years ago, and lauded the progress she’s made as superintendent.